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T20 Group Stage Roundup

The last meaningful game of the group stage was devoid of much excitement (thankfully for Pakistan fans). After having displayed composure in their run chase against England, they stumbled against a keen bowling attack. Even though Pakistan’s fielding display continued to be school-level, their quick bowlers hit the bat and refused to give anything away long enough for the Netherlands to self-destruct with repeated forays down the track against the spinners.

The result went some way towards suggesting a few close Super-Eight games.

Game 8 | June 8 | Australia V Sri Lanka

It isn’t that the Australians have been eliminated from the toughest group that is surprising, the format is after all about hit-and-miss, but the fact that they were made to look very ordinary in the process. What further proof of that can there be when Ponting, arguably in the top 10 batsmen of all time, having been limited to a run in five deliveries by Mendis, lost his leg stump on the final delivery while Mitchell Johnson at no.8 smashed 21 off a Murali over. Barring that over, Sri Lanka’s two spinners conceded 28 in seven overs.

Australia were comprehensively outclassed and seem to have some sorting out to do in this format. Only the final super-eight slot remains to be decided between Pakistan and Netherlands

Game 7 | June 8 | Bangladesh V Ireland

Having rattled the bigger names with their aggressive hitting, Bangladesh folded against Ireland to meekly exit the tournament. Group F in the super-eights could well have two non-test playing nations if Pakistan fail to beat Netherlands by a large margin.

With this loss, Bangladesh seem to have taken over the tag of “most unpredictable team”.

Game 6 | June 7 | England V Pakistan

England set aside their usual circumspect approach to crunch games and went hard right from the start. Pietersen’s return to form was starting to get overdue and the rest of the batting slots in nicely when he comes good. Pakistan, never a great chasing side, were out of it when they managed only 37 runs in the first five overs and lost two in the sixth over.

The ideal result from the tournament’s point of view. The hosts stay in the competition while last year’s finalists only need to ensure a victory against Netherlands to move on. Although all 3 teams will then have a win each, Netherlands slender victory margin against England will eliminate them on Net Run Rate. Correction: Pakistan need a big win (atleast half the margin they lost to England by) to overtake the Dutch on NRR and finish in the top two in their group. England are through to the Super Eight with their superior NRR. Thanks to PSK on the Stani Army blog and Q on Well Pitched for pointing out the error.

Game 5 | June 7 | Scotland V South Africa

Classic ‘minnow-bashing’ exercise as was the norm in the good ol’ days. South Africa scored as many as they could without getting too bored. South Africa’s defense of their total of 211 was like a lumbering tank slowly and deliberately rolling on top of a Pinto (or similarly hardworking but boring car). Not much more than a net session for South Africa with only about as much confidence to gain.

South Africa and New Zealand, the first teams to book their spots in the Super Eights.

Game 4 | June 6 | Bangladesh V India

India won despite a lukewarm performance with the bat and ball. For most of their innings, they played as if they had ages to bat through, like in an ODI! A late flourish and a few timely wickets helped quell the new Bangladeshi approach of coming out swinging at the bell.

Game 3 | June 6 | Australia V West Indies

The one man who could hurt Australia did. Tired as that headline might seem, “Gayle Force” did blow Australia away. Gayle bludgeoned his way to hand Australia as one-sided a thrashing as is possible in this format. With 25 balls to spare, the ODI and test champions were made to look distinctly ordinary by a side that has made that their signature.

Game 2 | June 6 | New Zealand V Scotland

More a farce than a match. With seven overs a side, they might as well have flipped a coin to decide the winner. New Zealand were relieved to have gotten through unscathed, although it makes you wonder if natural evolution for the 20-20 is the Super Over

Game 1 | June 5 | England V Netherlands

Typically insipid display by England, batting first, slowed down after a brisk start to end with 162. They scored only 38 scored in the last five overs. The Dutch batted bravely, with excellent running between the wickets to stay in touch with the target throughout. Deserved upset winners after they managed to hold their nerve better in the final couple of overs.